This invention relates to melt spinning of particulate polymeric material and more particularly it relates to apparatus for providing distribution polymer flakes descending from the polymer flake supply to the melt grid beneath the polymer flake supply.
In the process for producing filamets and fibers from polymeric material as described by Pierce in U.S. Pat. No. 2,683,073, polymer is melted in a melting unit and then flows into a reservoir where it is mixed by a driven stirrer. A pump meters a supply of molten polymer from the reservoir to the spinning orifices. Dechene has described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,301 construction and use of a heated grid for melting the polymer. Heating fluid circulates through the grid. When using grids similar to those disclosed by Dechene to provide molten polymer for spinning, polymer flakes are charged into the grid to be melted. During the operation it is found that there is a greater tendency for the flake to flow toward the center of the grid. The existence of such a condition creates a problem of lower polymer temperatures at the center of the grid than the sidewalls of the grid at the same levels. This temperature gradient creates denier variations in the spun yarn.